Schloss Schmölz

Schloss Schmölz stands in the village of Schmölz, part of the market town of Küps in Upper Franconia. The building sits beside the middle Rodach river, which once carried goods through the valley. Ten noble houses once lined this stretch of water, but only Schloss Schmölz remains largely intact. The Freiherren von Redwitz owned the estate for centuries, shaping its medieval core. In 1502 they built the west wing with two corner towers, though the Bauernkrieg of 1525 left it in ruins. By 1536 the family had rebuilt the west wall and restored the defences. The poet Oskar von Redwitz enlarged the castle between 1855 and 1857, adding a south wing designed by Jakob Schmitt-Friderich. In 1861 the estate passed to the Freiherren von Egloffstein, who held it until 1972. The Prümer family then owned the house for decades before the artist Paul Eddie Pfisterer bought it in 2017. Each generation left its mark, from the medieval towers to the 19th-century façade. The castle’s layered history can still be traced in its walls and floor plan. Visitors approach along Johann-Georg-Herzog-Straße, where the castle’s entrance faces the Wacholder district. The two-storey west wing with its square towers dominates the skyline. Inside, the rooms reflect the tastes of successive owners, from the sturdy medieval hall to the lighter 19th-century salons. Outside, the Rodach flows past the northern gardens, its banks lined with old willows. The surrounding meadows stretch towards the wooded hills of the Franconian Forest.